


and there’s no remedy for memory.

by Juvenile_Gemini



Category: Life Is Strange 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Daniel/OMC, Feliz cumpleaños Daniel!, Incest, Lone Wolf ending, M/M, Sibling Incest, Strained Relationships, Suicide, ghost Sean, happy in quotation marks, prostitute Daniel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:40:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23655502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juvenile_Gemini/pseuds/Juvenile_Gemini
Summary: One day, it would become ironic to Daniel—funny, in a bitter, acidic sort of way—that Sean so strongly refuted the existence of ghosts, and then ended up appearing to Daniel as one.
Relationships: Daniel Diaz/Sean Diaz
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47





	and there’s no remedy for memory.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy belated birthday to our favorite baby boy Daniel Felipe Diaz!! I made this for the occasion but it look a bit longer to finish it u_u But it’s here, and I hope you enjoy!

_ July 4th, 2017 _

When Daniel was really young, he told Sean about the weird people he met in the house. For a while, Sean was receptive to his words, validating, and Daniel thought he could see them too. But apparently, he just thought they were Daniel’s imaginary friends. And when Daniel never grew out of it, Sean refused to entertain that talk any longer. Because ghosts weren’t real. He was adamant on that. Adamant until the very end. He could believe in telekinesis, accepted that without issue, but not the idea of footprints of life sticking around after death.

One day, it would become ironic to Daniel—funny, in a bitter, acidic sort of way—that Sean so strongly refuted the existence of ghosts, and then ended up appearing to Daniel as one.

But not today. Not while sobbing over the fresh corpse of his big brother.

When he feels a cold, weightless touch on his shoulder, he opens his eyes and faces the translucent figure of Sean’s ghost.  _ I’m sorry, _ he says.  _ I’m so sorry, Daniel. _ Daniel shakes his head. He lets out a scream, punching at Sean’s chest as if he doesn’t know full well his fist will pass right through. His knuckles pathetically crack against the glass of the car window, sending lightning bolts of pain shooting up to his elbow. Sean apologizes over and over. Daniel knows he should be the one apologizing. But he’s too busy drowning in misery to be anything other than angry at Sean for dying.

The apparition vanishes as quickly as it came, and Daniel is left completely, totally, achingly alone.

  
  
  
  


_ March 18th, 2020 _

He follows her at a distance for a few minutes before going in. Long enough to gather the necessary details about her, but short enough not to arouse suspicion.

She’s a tourist. Light brown hair and a fake tan. A big smile with perfectly straight, blindingly white teeth. She’s wearing a floral sundress and a denim jacket over it. Her sunglasses look expensive. Her wallet is in her right jacket pocket, and she takes it out liberally. Someone clearly has too much money on their hands. Daniel tries to only take from people who don’t need it. (Or people who piss him off.)

He quietly slinks up behind her and slips the wallet from her pocket while she’s distracted. He ducks into an alleyway, pockets each crisp bill, then drops the emptied wallet onto the dirt before joining the hustle and bustle of the streets again. 

He makes his way to the rendezvous point, where a tall, thick-bearded man stands waiting for him, cigarette dangling from his lips. Daniel hands over everything he collected throughout the day (minus the teeny bit he skimmed off the top). He’s feeling rather proud of himself. The man counts the bills with a lopsided grin.

“You did good, kid.”

Daniel preens under the compliment. He doesn’t get too many of those, but that just means it’s extra special when he does get one.

Sean doesn’t like the crew Daniel’s running with—he makes that loud and clear whenever he pops in for a spell—but they’re good people at heart. Really. They treat Daniel as one of their own. Teach him how to be smart and tough. They look out for him. Sean’s just jealous that they’re cooler than him. And not dead.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear—Daniel catches a glimpse of a familiar figure out the corner of his eye, and elects to ignore it for now.

“Here’s your cut. Remember, Thursday. Same time, same place.”

“I’ll remember,” Daniel assures, tucking the money in the front pocket of his shorts. He waves goodbye and hightails it back to the house. He doesn’t need to check if Sean is following. He can never resist an opportunity to berate Daniel, so he’s following. It feels like he never appears unless it’s to criticize his little brother for doing something bad. If Daniel occasionally (often) acts out just to make Sean appear, he’ll never admit it.

They walk in silence for a long while. Sean’s giving him the disappointed look. Daniel stubbornly waits for Sean to speak up first. It’s childish, but Daniel doesn’t care.

“I know you’re better than this.”

“Oh yes, please nag me, big brother. I love it so much.” He kicks a rock along his path, sending it flying into the street.

_ “Enano, _ I’m only trying to look out for you the best I can like this.”

“It’s funny,” Daniel replies, because yeah, today is the day it’s become acidicly comedic, “how Mister Skeptic ended up as a ghost. You think it’s karma?”

“Daniel, you need to get your act together. I gave up everything for you. For you to live. And here you are, throwing your life away.”

They’ve reached the house now. The old wrecked abandoned property that once belonged to a father Daniel’s slowly forgetting the face of. Daniel stops a few paces from the door, because Sean won’t come inside. He never comes inside. Daniel wishes he would, clenching his fists to keep from crying, wishes he’d follow him everywhere and never leave his side. But he always disappears. Always too soon. Daniel wishes he could hit him.

“You already threw  _ your  _ life away!” he shouts, not giving a single shit if anyone hears. “So what’s the fucking point? Why am I even here? What was the point of getting to Mexico if you were just gonna leave me all alone?!”

Sean doesn’t have anything to say to that. He looks at Daniel with big puppy dog eyes, drowned in sorrow and exasperation and hurt feelings. He closes his eyes, drags a palm over his face, heaves a long-suffering sigh, and then dissipates into thin air. Of fucking course. Typical. He’s always running away. Always running away from Daniel.

_ “Fuck!” _

A pile of scrap metal leaning against the house explodes into a hailstorm of silver destruction. Half of a car door lands right at Daniel’s feet, narrowly missing his head. He bites the inside of his cheek until he tastes blood. Then he flings the front door open with a jerk of his chin and stomps inside.

Once again, Daniel has been left all alone.

  
  
  
  


_ September 9, 2022 _

This is getting easier. Not better, but easier.

It’s even easier when Daniel, legs spread, sweatpants pooling at his ankles, side of his face pressed firm against the brick wall in front of him, closes his eyes and pretends. He pretends he’s not doing this for money. He pretends he’s in love with the man ramming into him. Pretends said man isn’t so big and rough, but rather, lithe and gentle. A clean-shaven face. A voice equal parts husky and tender. Younger. Maybe sixteen. Eternally sixteen. And equally in love with Daniel. That part would be especially nice.

The man pulls out, coarse and uncaring, the moment after coming inside Daniel. Daniel hears him zipping up his pants and buckling up his belt. A wad of cash is thrown on the ground, then the client leaves without a word. But Daniel can still feel someone watching him.

Fighting against his aching muscles, he bends down to take the money and shove it in his pants pocket. He doesn’t get decent just yet, though. Wants to give his voyeur a show.

He wraps a fist around his half hard cock and starts to tug. There’s little finesse to his motions, but he isn’t too rough with himself. Strokes his dick like he imagines the boy in his fantasy might do it. Firm, but loving, caring, focused on Daniel’s pleasure. He doesn’t bother stifling his moans. May even be playing them up a little. His fingernails scratch across the brick as he gets close to climax, legs shaking and face screwed up in pleasure, and he almost doesn’t stop himself from calling Sean’s name.

Daniel spills hot and slick over his knuckles, sparing just half a moment to calm his heart rate before wiping his hand off on the wall and yanking his pants back up.

“You saw all that, I’m guessing?”

Sean doesn’t say anything, but a brief glance at his clenched jaw confirms Daniel’s assumption. He smirks.

“Did ya like it?”

“ _ Daniel,”  _ Sean snaps, and Daniel rolls his eyes.

“What? You’re really gonna be mad at me for this? Really?” He crosses his arms. Steps closer to his late brother.

Sean glows faintly blue in the darkness. He looks deader than ever like this, and Daniel fucking hates it. Sean habitually slips a tongue over his bottom lip.

“You’re a prostitute.”

“Yeah. I am. So what?”

“You’re fifteen fucking years old, that’s what.”

“Well, I had to grow up fast,” Daniel bites.

He knows as soon as he says it that he’s preaching to the choir. Sean was only a year older than him when they had to run. When he had to become Daniel’s guardian. Daniel couldn’t imagine taking full responsibility for a kid next year, especially as a kid as bratty as Daniel was. If he didn’t rely on spite to wake up every day, to take each step forward, he might tell Sean about that. But as he stands, he needs to stay angry to stay alive.

Sean lifts a hand as if to reach out to Daniel, but he changes his mind. He likes to fake touch sometimes. All that does is piss Daniel off, because how is an icy chill on his skin at all comparable to the real thing? It’s just a sorry reminder. Daniel clenches his fists, nails digging into his palms.

“It makes good money. And I’m hurting less people. Isn’t that what you wanted? For me to hurt less people?”

Sean looks like his heart just physically broke. “All I want is for you to be safe.”

“And all I want is for my brother to be alive. We can’t always get what we want, can we?”

Sean heaves a sigh, hot and heavy with building anger. “You think I chose this? You really think I decided to be like this, just to spite you? You think I wasn’t planning on growing up, on growing old and having a life with you?”

Not necessarily a romantic statement. But Sean looks as guilty as if he just asked for Daniel’s hand in marriage.

_ Like I don’t already know,  _ Daniel wants to say.  _ You can’t hide jackshit. I know how we feel about each other. But we can’t do anything about it now. _

“We could have. We would have. But you took that away from us.” Daniel punctuates his words with an aggressive heel spin, stomping away in a huff. Even though every cell in his body is screaming at him not to leave Sean. To never leave Sean. To cry and scream and beg for Sean to stay forever and stop disappearing, even if it’s not the same, because something is better than nothing, and he doesn’t want to be left again.

This time, Daniel is the one leaving. But he feels abandoned all the same.

  
  
  
  


_ July 4, 2023 _

“It’s beautiful,” Sean says, peering over Daniel’s shoulder.

“It’s for you.”

“Thank you. I love it.”

“I love  _ you.” _

It’s weird. The fighting and the anger usually peak on this godforsaken day. Daniel almost always says something horrible to Sean on the Fourth of July that he later regrets.

But today? Today, he’s feeling like giving up this never ending fight between himself and Sean. He doesn’t want to hide behind walls of rage and faux hatred anymore. He wants to calm down, to open up, to let Sean see how much he really loves him. His heart feels soft right now, and for some reason, that’s not scary today. He feels content in letting those walls crumble.

“I… I love you too. So much. More than I can say. I hope you know that.”

Daniel does.

He kneels down before the cross, Sean joining him at his side, and places the wolf drawing amongst the candles and trinkets and other offerings. It feels a bit redundant to still do this with Sean right there with him. But it’s only fair to give him an altar. A physical reminder that, no matter what he says in a fit of rage, Daniel really does love him. And appreciate him. Appreciate his attempts at raising and loving Daniel from beyond the grave.

There’s a cold spot on his back where his brother’s incorporeal palm pretends to rest, and Daniel decides not to be mad about it this time. They can both pretend they can actually touch each other.

The cold spot leaves when Sean slowly rises to his feet.

“Daniel. Behind you.”

Looking over his shoulder, Daniel spots them. It’s a small group. Only three of them, and none who appear too dangerous. He’s taken care of much larger threats. This should be easy.

But… does he want it to be?

He stands to join Sean, fingertips reaching out to discreetly pass through his. An act of reassurance. And then he’s meeting the assailants halfway, barely paying attention to anything the ringleader angrily harps on about. Who gives a fuck? Daniel sends the two lackeys up into the air, letting them crash to the sand. Ringleader pulls out a gun. Daniel doesn’t feel scared. He feels nothing.

Until a realization hit him. And then he’s truly feeling something for the first time in a long time.

The corner of his lips quirk up. He can end the fight once and for all. No more of this childish push and pull. No more phantom touches that chill Daniel to the bone. No more walls, no more barriers. No more dancing around desires they can’t fulfill. Together. Entirely. Finally. The happily ever after they deserve, at long last.

Sean knows him well enough to see the intent behind Daniel’s eyes.

“Daniel, no.”

His gaze darts over to Sean for a fraction of a second, drinking in as much of that heartwarmingly panicked expression as quickly as he can.

“Daniel, stop him, he’s gonna hurt you.”

_ We won’t get hurt ever again,  _ Daniel thinks.  _ This is where the pain ends. _

All it takes is one sudden movement forward, and a gunshot rings out through the beach. Echoing and reverberating throughout time and space. He can’t even feel it. Distantly, he recognizes Sean’s guttural scream, and that’s what actually hurts. Not the bullet in his skull. He gets it now, what Sean must have felt at the border.

There’s nothing but a pitch black void for a drawn-out moment, until Daniel finds himself looking down at his own dead body, staining the sand a dark red. It’s an odd experience that he only allows himself to indulge in for a few seconds.

Because standing before him, in all his gorgeous glory, is Sean Diaz.

Daniel’s heart clenches at the golden shine of his skin under the setting sun. Warm, and real as any living creature to Daniel now. The way rays of light reflect off his face, highlighting strong cheekbones and a jawline crafted by the gods, makes Daniel want to cry. His one beautiful chocolate eye, framed by delicate lashes. Those plush lips, so soft and so delicate. His slender frame, untouched by the passage of time. He’s beautiful beyond words. Daniel can’t imagine falling in love with anyone else.

Sean doesn’t say anything, appears to be unable to speak at all, but his expression is an encyclopedia to Daniel.

“I know,” he tells Sean. “I know. I’m sorry.”

A sob wracks through Sean’s chest, so clear and so human, and Daniel swoops him into a gentle embrace. He feels the fabric of his shirt, the vibrations of his sobs, his calloused palms, his falling tears. All at once, everything feels right, for the very first time since Daniel was ten years old.

“I’m sorry,” he repeats, “but I had to. This had to happen. I was meant for you, and you were meant for me. We were meant to be together. I know you know that.”

He pulls back to hold Sean’s tear-stained face between his palms. He smiles, content, and pulls his brother into a kiss. Gentle and chaste. He can taste Sean’s tears. He misses it immediately when he has to pull back.

“We’re together now. For real. Forever. Nobody can take you away from me ever again.”

Daniel kisses his cheeks, his eyelids, his nose, and his lips again.

“I know I fucked up,” he continues. “Not just once. A lot. And I know you probably think I fucked up just now too. But this is the only decision I’ve ever made that feels right.”

Sean may not understand for a while, and Daniel is okay with that. He has an eternity to convince him of how perfect this is. How perfect they are together. How perfect this love is. He will spend every hour of every day until the world ends showing Sean how in love he is with him, and he will carry on just the same after the earth has passed on herself. He will kiss and hold and make love to Sean at every opportunity, worship his entire being with a devotion that would put the strictest believer to shame. And Sean will get it, eventually. Daniel feels it in whatever is left of his soul.

“I love you,” he tells Sean, words dripping with purpose and meaning. It’s different now from any previous declarations. A fundamental tonal shift. “I love you.”

Sean smiles, and he looks so soft, so young, so beautiful. “I love you too.”

And Daniel knows Sean means it in the same way.

And Daniel knows he’ll never be abandoned again.


End file.
